Flowers and Shrines Bring Everyone Together
by Rae7910819
Summary: Five years after the Dark Lord's downfall and something's still unfinished...


Disclaimer: Nope, they're not mine, and they never will be… *sigh*

_~somewhere far away from here  
I saw stars, stars that I could reach…  
It was a midnight, silent twilight that fell down...  
Beyond the ocean beach…~_

It was spring, five years after the Dark Lord had fallen.

Hermione lay in the grass under the shade of a tree, her mind elsewhere. It was on the Final Battle and its aftermath. She hated remembering all those faces that were forever gone from this realm. Especially one face, the face that never made it to the actual battle, but died, undignified, in a dingy old shack from a snake bite.

_~I assemble all the sand that covers wedding beaches, to  
build a castle so your mom would have a place to stay,  
behind the waterslide and down the hill where heaven  
reaches land, and time is left to float away…~_

" 'Mione! There you are!" Harry was jogging up to her from the castle. He'd been here for a week now, helping the staff with all the preparations for tomorrow's celebration. He slowed to a stop, and plopped down beside her. She barely gave him a glance as she felt the tears rise in her eyes. Harry heaved a sigh and lay down to face her.

"I'd do anything to go back and save them," she murmured, wiping at her eyes.

"I know," he whispered, "I know..."

_~So rest assured I have the key to every opening,  
to every wishing well that's deep enough to dream…  
I want to show you just how fascinating kissing is,  
when earth collides with all the space between…~_

Hermione was sitting by herself in a dark corner, watching the couples sway to and fro to the music in the dim candlelight. She saw Neville and Luna near the punch bowl, each clutching a toddler. They'd gotten together after Neville helped bring Luna back from near death with his extensive knowledge of herbology. They'd married when she became pregnant- with a set of twins, no less.

Ginny and Harry were talking together on a bench not too far from where Hermione sat. They'd been dating on and off, but were considering now settling down.

Hermione's eyes wandered to the wall that was covered in names. After the war, she and the survivors had carved every name of every person that died for the war into it. It seemed fitting that the names be here, where hundreds of kids could see the full impact. She got up and walked to the wall, her eyes searching the place she knew his name to be. Right under Dumbledore's and above Ron's. She found them with little effort. She leaned against his and Ron's name and cried again. She missed them both dearly.

_~I'm reaching farther than I ever have before,  
leaving all who broke your heart upon the shore…  
I may be some sort of crazy…  
We may be some sort of crazy,  
but I swear on everything I have and more…~_

"Miss Granger, do conduct yourself in a manner befitting a young lady of your stature."

Hermione whirled to come face to face with a man she never thought to see again. Severus Snape stood before her, in all his scowling glory. Bewildered, she looked around, but nobody else seemed to be able to see what she was seeing. She swallowed hard and faced him again. He was standing not two feet away from her in what she realized were his teaching robes. "How... What- I'm I going crazy?" she whispered, the words barely falling from her lips when he smirked.

"I heard someone calling me, and I felt the need to answer. I don't believe you're going crazy. What I do believe is that you'd better make it worth my time away from Lily, Potter, and that prat Weasley. And by the way, he says you ought to stop crying and that he loves you."

She gasped and took a step toward him. "What are you?"

He sighed and looked up, "Albus, you owe me. Again." Then he looked back to her. "For lack of a better word, you can call me an Angel. I'm not a ghost, for I have substance. Nor am I really alive. Now, stop gaping and ask me for a dance."

_~So never look behind you, spooky people bring you down,  
the world is ending... There's a party by the bay…  
I'll wear my suit and tie; we're eye to eye and toasting to  
the way you put that smile upon my face…~_

She really felt his arms around her, his breath on her cheek as he bent to whisper in her ear his admiration and love for her. She could really feel his lips as they pressed themselves to her forehead. She could feel his soft hair as she brushed a lock out of his eyes.

He pulled her onto the dance floor so suddenly; her skirts whirled around her in a flurry of red and silver.

_~Fill up the air balloon and ride with me,  
Yeah hell is jealous of the rain…  
Make love like time and space is ending while befriending  
Fate's alluring way of putting us to shame…~_

"I've missed you so much. I was never so heart- broken as when I saw you fall to that floor, Severus. I thought I'd die from the pain." He stared down at her, a pain in his eyes.

"You did."

Her heart skipped a beat. "N- No. I'm here; I've been living here at the castle as an assistant to Minerva."

"Hermione," the words were soft and sadly spoken, "You've been living here because you can't go anywhere else. Except to move on. They don't realize you've stayed because you don't know... Because you didn't accept that you're not alive anymore." Her eyes filled with tears again as she shook her head in defiance. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at the wall right next to Ron's name. Her name was there, etched into the wood. She'd never seen it there before, and it held a sick fascination to her as it sank in.

_~I'm reaching farther than I ever have before,  
leaving all who broke your heart upon the shore…  
I may be some sort of crazy…  
We may be some sort of crazy,  
but I swear on everything I have and more...~_

"Come with me, Hermione. Come with me and move on. It's time," his voice caressed her heart and she turned in his arms to face him. Slowly, she nodded. It was time, she agreed. He led her to the place where Harry sat with Ginny still.

"Harry... I need to go." Her voice was thick with emotion and easily drew Harry's attention. His eyes widened as they took in her and the dark man behind her. His mouth was working open and closed, very much like Ginny's right next to him. Hermione smiled slightly and bent to brush her lips against his cheek. "Thank you Harry. For everything. Bye guys; see you around." She turned to Severus and nodded. He pulled her close and they were enveloped in a bright white light that left many blinking and startled.

_~That you make the sound of pulling heaven down,  
you brought the rain's romantic pour,  
you make the sound... You make the sound  
of pulling heaven down…~_

Luna glided up to Harry as the light finally faded. "She finally moved on, didn't she?" her voice loud in the stunned silence.

"Yeah. And it was Snape who came for her..."

"Don't be sad Harry. It's not like you'll never see her again. Besides, you've had five years to say goodbye." The music and chatter started up again, swirling around the dancers like butterflies.

"I know Luna, but I guess I just didn't want her to go. She was always a central figure in my life since we started school. Her and Ron both," Harry hesitated then asked, "Did you know? About her and Snape I mean."

"Everybody did. Every time they were in a room together, the tension practically hummed. If it wasn't for the Garamsthye between them, they'd have been all over each other." At that moment, her twins chose to start bawling and Luna swept away before Harry could even think of asking what a Garamsthye was.

With a resigned, albeit a bit bemused, smile, Harry turned to face Ginny. "Now what?"

"Now we move on with our life. We'll be married next winter, and start a family," the beautiful red- headed woman said with a smile. It was the smile that Harry had fallen in love with, and made him think of other things they could be doing at that moment. He grinned and pulled her away to a private nook.

_~Else Where~_

Somewhere, a teenaged couple lay peacefully in each other's arms. The tawny- haired girl looked up at the dark and pale boy and smiled. Her dream had finally come true.

-End-

A. Note: The lyrics come from Blue October's song 'Sound of Pulling Heaven Down' and the title comes from a flower stand's memorial in a certain University's courtyard. This fic is dedicated to my father who passed away back in 2008, around the same time this piece was first posted over on Ashwinder.

Many thanks to my beta, Good_Witch!


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